


i write with a poison pen

by IrreverentFangirl



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Evolving Tags, Fluff, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Nonbinary Nursey, Nursey Week, Nursey-Centric, Pining, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Poly, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:34:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9639107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrreverentFangirl/pseuds/IrreverentFangirl
Summary: Derek Malik Nurse was the antithesis of chill and he made sure that as few people as possible knew. This is about how everyone finds out anyways.





	1. Silent

**Author's Note:**

> so, this is a li'l late bc i didn't know about nursey week until midnight last night. still, nursey is my favorite character and i needed an excuse to write him. 
> 
> excuse any mistakes, i wrote most of this (and published it) on my phone. this is not beta'd!

_'Cause I’ve got a jet black heart_  
_And there’s a hurricane underneath it_  
_Trying to keep us apart_  
**_I write with a poison pen_ **  
_But these chemicals moving between us_  
_Are the reason to start again_

**\- 5 Seconds of Summer Jet Black Heart **

The Haus was silent. This couldn’t be good, the Haus was never silent. In fact, Derek had come here because the Haus was never silent and he needed that right now. Most of the time, the fact that he lived in a single was a source of comfort (nobody to dig through his shit and find his...more feminine items), but seemed all-consuming right now. He had needed to escape it and he really hoped he hadn’t left one place where his thoughts could attempt to drown him just to enter a different one.  


“Hey!” he yelled. “Anyone here?”  


A response was quick. “Yeah, sugar,” Bitty’s drawl rang through the Haus. “I’m in the kitchen, come on in!”  


Derek hurried to comply, finding Bitty at the counter, his hands buried in dough and a small smile on his face. “Hey Bits,” he said. “Where’s the music?”  


Bitty shrugged and ducked his head. “I was just in the mood for some quiet,” he said. “Everyone’s out and I figured I’d get some baking done so they’d have something to eat when they came home.”  


Derek felt as though stomach acid was crawling its way up his throat. “Hey, man, do you need me to go? I didn’t mean to mess with your chill or whatever, I just thought it’d be cool to come hang out here, but it’s whatever - ”  


Bitty made a noise and shook his head. “Nah, sweetheart, you’re fine. I’m always happy for some company. How’re you today?”  


Derek shrugged as he collapsed in a mess of limbs at the table. “I’m chill, bro. Just wanted to escape my dorm for a bit and thought I’d come bug you guys. Talking about you guys, where is everyone?”  


“Ransom and Holster are at the library. Rans has got a big test comin’ up and Holts is tryin’ to stop him from melting into a pile of anxiety. Lardo’s out with her art friends and Chowder’s on a date with Caitlin,” Bitty explained as he set his crust in a pie tin.  


Derek made a noise to make sure Bitty knew he was listening. After a moment, Bitty went to wash his hands and when he came back, he leaned his elbows against the counter and met Derek’s eyes. “So tell me, Nursey. What brought my favorite Frog to my kitchen?”  


Derek laughed and shook his head. “Chowder’s your favorite.”  


Bitty snorted, before leaning forward and patting Derek on the bicep. “Chowder doesn’t count, he’s literally my son. My favorite frog is whichever is with me at the moment,” he said with a wink.  


Derek spluttered. “That is _rude_ , Bits. Why’re you being so rude to me?”  


“Oh, bless your sweet heart, I wasn’t being rude! I was being honest.” He stressed the syllables of honest, until it sounded like a whole new word.  


“I know that means fuck you!” Derek exclaimed, causing Bitty to burst into laughter.  


Bitty shook his head before standing straight. “Oh, Nursey. Anyways is everything okay with you? You’re looking better than when you came in.”  


Derek tilted his head to the side and considered. “Yeah,” he said, surprised. “I am. Thanks, Bits.”  


Bitty waved a hand at him. “Nothing to thank me for,” he insisted. “I’m always happy to chirp a friend.” **  
**


	2. Simplicity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nursey is genderfluid! farmer asking his pronouns is literally her being the best ever and the reason chowder doesn't ask is because he overheard nursey and farmer. 
> 
> i'm still kinda iffy on farmer and chowder's voices in this, i'm not used to writing them. but nursecharmer is such a cute ship and even though i seem to be captaining it on my own, that's chill. 
> 
> btw, all these one-shots are taking place in nursey's sophomore year (bitty's junior) and in the same 'verse!

Simplicity wasn’t something Derek was used to. Nothing in his life had ever been simple, not really. He was queer, brown, Muslim, and mentally ill with two moms - nothing about him allowed for simplicity. 

But his friendship with Chowder and Farmer? It was easy. They let him be and didn’t expect shit. If some days when one of them dropped by his room, he was wearing lipstick or eyeliner or a pair of leggings, they never said anything. Hanging out with them was simple. 

Until it wasn’t anymore. 

Nursey was used to pining. Of course he was. You don’t grow up queer around straight guys and don’t get used to it. That didn’t make it any easier. 

Chowder and Farmer were perfect. They were like sunshine personified, happy and gorgeous and so, so warm. They were easily his best friends. 

Fuck, they were so much more than that. 

When Derek had first met him, he thought Chowder was a chill dude. Actually, that’s not true. He had never in the two years he’d known him conflated Chowder and chill. He had, however, thought Chowder might of been the best person he had ever met (and his sister was Amrita Nurse, a literal goddess among mortals and the best big sister he could have asked for). 

Farmer was much the same. She was just so damn friendly; so ready to be his friend. She talked with him in a way he wasn’t really used to. Most people he was friends with were either hockey bros or pretentious assholes. Farmer was neither - sure she was a jock, but she was smart as hell. She was working towards a degree in Communications and he’d never met anyone more focused than she was. 

And yet, they wanted to be  _ his  _ friends. They wanted to spend time with  _ him.  _ They were willing to take time out of their days for  _ him.  _

He almost couldn’t believe it. 

But, still, they did. Take today, for example. Chowder had a test in his CompSci class and Farmer had a big presentation coming up for her Comm 101 class but they were coming to Slam Poetry night for him anyways, because they knew it was important to him and they fucking cared about that shit. 

Seriously, what had he done to deserve them? 

He was at the Haus, outside Chowder’s door, and could hear rustling and giggling happening in there. “Hey, C? It’s me!” 

The door flew open to reveal Farmer, a huge grin on her face. She looked gorgeous as ever. Her silky brown hair was pulled away from her face into a loose side braid and her makeup was light. She was wearing a pair of black leggings and a large white sweater that Nursey was fairly certain had come out of his closet. “Hey, Farm. I’ve missed you!” 

Farmer beamed at him. “I’ve missed you too! Pronouns?” 

Derek tilted his head and thought about it for a second. “He/him,” he finally said. “I’m a dude today.” 

She punched him lightly on the shoulder before pulling him into an embrace. “Cool,” she said. “Chris’ll be ready in a minute, won’t you, babe?” The last part of the sentence had been said a little louder so that Chowder could hear her. 

He chose that moment to stumble to the door, yanking his Sharks hoodie down. “I am ready!” he exclaimed, beaming at Derek. “And I’m really excited to hear your poems, Nursey!” 

Derek laughed and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. “Thanks, C,” he said. “I’m real happy you guys are coming.” 

Farmer grinned. “Well, we’re happy to be coming. Thanks for inviting us, Derek!” 

“Eh, it’s chill. I’ve been wanting to invite you guys for awhile.” 

Farmer reached into her sweater, pulling out her phone to glance at her screen. “Okay, guys, we should head out now if we want to be on time. We’re gonna be using my car, okay?” 

“Chyeah,” Derek said, before slinging an arm around each of them. “Let’s go.” 

“This is gonna be ‘swawesome!” Chowder cheered as they headed down the hall. 

Derek smiled. Hey, as long as he got to be around these two, pining for them really wasn’t that bad. 

**Author's Note:**

> come scream at me at my [tumblr](http://nonbinarydereknurse.tumblr.com/)


End file.
